Fennema Workshop: Measuring What Matters: Applying the Science of Assessment to the Assessment of Food Science

In this workshop we will take ideas from the earlier lecture and try applying them to the assessment of key knowledge and skills in areas of food science. We will make use of the logic of evidence centered design to work through the process of determining some of the claims about what students should know and be able to do based on courses in food science and how one would then use that to determine the forms of evidence that should be the focus of assessment for either formative and summative purposes.

Quality Assurance and Continuous Improvement: The Purpose of Assessment in Food Science Education

This interactive session is designed to highlight assessment as a type of quality assurance and continuous improvement of teaching and learning in food science. Its goal is to help food science faculty and administrators gain an understanding of basic principles of assessment as related to IFT program approval, as well as provide tools for effective assessment methods. Upon completion of the session, attendees will be able to discuss basic assessment practices and apply them in their own courses and programs. Attendees are encouraged to bring their course syllabi.

Over the last 25 years, the food industry faced a great deal of change in food science and technology, culture, policy, and politics and has been truly “global” in its scope and impact. Also, the emergence of new foodborne hazards, along with consumer habits, preferences, and demand for convenience, nutrition, and safety of food and ingredients have resulted in increased need for understanding and navigating changing the regulatory landscape by food industry professionals. While the academic institutions have kept pace with technical training in food science and technology, the industry is experiencing a dire shortage of prospective employees: we need food scientists, technologists, and even production workers who can function adequately in changing the regulatory and technological climate. This symposium is designed to examine the current academic preparation for food science and technology graduates and discuss associated challenges and opportunities for the food industry. This symposium is sponsored by Phi Tau Sigma, the honor society of food science and technology.

Benchmarks, Hurdles, and Metrics to Compare Products and Categories: Is There a Right Way to Set a Standard for Success?

Benchmarking is a tactic to assess how a given product matches up to competitors or standards in the marketplace. It can be used to establish sensory or business practice for the desired user experience. Benchmarking may be used to define fundamental, baseline metrics for a product, which allows for a form of performance tracking over product iterations. The benchmarking approach can be derived from a comprehensive series of quantitative studies all the way through to simple category review done in a small qualitative setting. Depending on the needs and risks, benchmarking can give the business informative design decisions to drive product design and user experience.

The goal of this curated symposium, the third in a series, is to present IFT members with a dialog between industry professionals on truths and myths behind practices that are thought to be commonly agreed upon approaches. In the case of benchmarking, knowing what the category benchmarks are for a given product may help the cross-functional team understand their strategy for product design, development and communication. There is a different point of view that the use of benchmarks that are general can hobble the same product design effort. Different disciplines in product design have varied perceptions regarding the value and approach to benchmarking. The Sensory and Consumer Sciences Division (SCSD) has selected a number of practicing professionals to discuss this area and provide understanding to both the division membership and the greater food and beverage product design and development community on the status of this area of interest.

*Our thanks to Compusense for their sponsorship of the Sensory Science track*

A National FSMA Training, Outreach, and Education Landscape for the Produce Industry, Part II

Recognizing that one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to training, USDA NIFA and FDA CFSAN collaboratively established the National Food Safety Training, Education, Extension, Outreach, and Technical Assistance Program, as mandated in Section 209 of FSMA in 2015. As mandated in FSMA, this competitive grant program provides food safety training, education, extension, outreach, and technical assistance to owners and operators of farms, small food processors, and small fruit and vegetable merchant wholesalers. Grants issued through this program provide funding for a National Coordination Center (NCC) and four Regional Centers (RCs), to extend food safety education, training, and technical assistance to specific audiences.

To provide a variety of training formats shaped by product, region, size and other factors, USDA NIFA and FDA CFSAN added to the training infrastructure in 2016. USDA NIFA established the Food Safety Outreach competitive grant program (FSOP). The program has created 50 FSOP awards; 12 Multistate Education and Training Projects that support collaborations among states not necessarily located within the same regions, but having common food safety concerns, or addressing common commodities; 22 community outreach projects that support the growth and expansion of already existing food safety education and outreach programs currently offered in local communities; and 16 pilot projects that support the development of potentially high-risk and high-impact food safety education and outreach programs in local communities.

Simultaneously, FDA awarded the Local Food Producer Outreach, Education, and Training to Enhance Food Safety and FSMA Compliance Cooperative Agreement to the National Farmers Union Foundation. The Native American Tribes Outreach, Education, and Training to Enhance Food Safety and FSMA Compliance Cooperative Agreement was also awarded to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville to support the development of training curricula and delivery, in addition to education and outreach, among local foods producers and tribes, respectively.

This work builds upon an existing foundation created by the partnerships in the USDA and FDA FSMA Alliances, the Produce Safety Alliance, the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance, and the Sprout Safety Alliance, which were established in 2010-2012. The FSMA Collaborative Forum, which first convened in April 2017, has provided a venue for collaboration among the training providers, including JIFSAN and NASDA.

These efforts have strategically focused on the delivery of customized training to target audiences to match the diversity of the food producers. This symposium will share the current program priority and RFA solicitation for FSOP potential applicants, work of the national produce safety training landscape, and the possibilities underway to leverage the momentum as a national best practice.